Fifa boss Infantino hails 2026 World Cup demand after 150 million tickets requested
Gianni Infantino says there would be ‘no football in 150 countries in the world’ without Fifa, defends cost of attending matches
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has defended the ticket prices for next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, citing heavy demand for them and the revenue generated for the sport around the world.
This month fan groups criticised the cost of tickets, which were several times more expensive than those for similar matches at the 2022 tournament.
In response, the game’s world governing body then launched a US$60 ticket tier to make the games more affordable for fans of qualified teams.
“We have six-seven million tickets on sale … in 15 days, we received 150 million ticket requests. So, 10 million ticket requests every single day. It shows how powerful the World Cup is,” Infantino said on Monday at the World Sports Summit in Dubai.
“In the almost 100 years of history of the World Cup, Fifa has sold 44 million tickets in total. So, in two weeks … we could’ve filled 300 years of World Cups. Imagine that. This is absolutely crazy.”
Fans from the US have made the highest number of ticket requests, followed by Germany and the United Kingdom, the Fifa president said.
“What’s crucial is that the revenues that are generated from this are going back to the game all over the world,” he added.